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                  <p class="p_Heading1"><span class="f_Heading1">Developing Profiles</span></p>



  
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<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Introduction</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">UML Profiles provide a means of extending the UML Language, which enables you to build UML models in particular domains. They are based on additional <a href="creatingcustomstereotypes.htm">stereotypes</a> and <a href="tagged_value_types.htm">Tagged Values</a> that are applied to UML elements, connectors and their components. A Profile is a collection of such extensions that together describe some particular modeling problem and facilitate modeling constructs in that domain. UML Profiles for Enterprise Architect are specified in XML files, with a specific format. These XML files can be imported into Enterprise Architect through the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Resources</span><span class="f_BodyText"> window.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The imported Profile also automatically generates a page of elements and relationships in the Enterprise Architect UML </span><span class="f_UIControl">Toolbox</span><span class="f_BodyText">.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The </span><span class="f_UIControl">Resources</span><span class="f_BodyText"> window contains a tree structure with entries for items such as MDG Technologies, Documents, Stylesheets, Matrix profiles and UML Profiles. The </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">UML Profiles</span><span class="f_BodyText"> node initially contains no entries; to be able to use Profiles you must import them into Enterprise Architect from supplied XML files.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">Items in the Profile represent stereotypes. UML supports a large number of stereotypes, which are an inbuilt mechanism for logically extending or altering the meaning, display, appearance and syntax of a model element. Different model elements have different stereotypes associated with them.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">For more information on the </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">use</span><span class="f_BodyText"> of Profiles in Enterprise Architect, see the </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="umlprofiles.htm">UML Profiles</a></span><span class="f_BodyText"> topic.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">For information on developing your own Profiles, see the following topics:</span></p>
<ul style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 30px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1"><a href="creatingcustomstereotypes.htm">Custom Stereotypes</a></span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1"><a href="workingwithprofiles.htm">Create Profiles</a></span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1"><a href="quick_linker_definitions.htm">Quick Linker</a></span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1"><a href="custom_toolboxes.htm">Toolbox Profiles</a></span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1"><a href="custom_diagram_types.htm">Diagram Profiles</a></span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1"><a href="custom_task_panes.htm">Task Pane Profiles</a></span></li>
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